Luke Evans Talks About Playing Bard The Bowman In ‘Desolation Of Smaug’
Luke Evans is getting ready (along with many of his fans) to debut his Bard the Bowman in the second installment of The Hobbit trilogy, the upcoming Desolation Of Smaug.
For his thousands of fans, the wait has been interminable since it was announced that he would take on the role. With almost a month until the movie premieres, it seems like it has been ages.
In an on-set interview with Insing.com, Evans reveals this may be his most iconic role yet. More than Zeus (Immortals), Apollo (Clash of The Titans), or Aramis (The Three Musketeers)?
Apparently so.
Luke Evans had just finished a scene with Richard Armitage, who plays Thorin in Desolation, when he took some time off for the interview.
Speaking from the Stone Street Studios in Wellington, New Zealand, the Welsh actor recalls the moment when he found out he was offered the role of Bard by Peter Jackson, “I just thought that this was going to be a really exciting thing.”
Bard the Bowman, one of the crucial characters from the J.R.R Tolkien novel, is a master archer who meets Bilbo and the company of dwarves and learns of their mission to reclaim their homeland from Smaug the dragon (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch).
The only human featured in a cast full of wizards, orcs, elves, and other magical characters, Bard is between a rock and a hard place, as he tries to protect his own home and help the dwarves.
Luke Evans says one of the most exciting things about accepting this role was to work with some of his favorite actors.
“I didn’t really think that there were Dwarves, Elves and Orcs. I just looked at it and went, ‘Sir Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Richard Armitage, Stephen Fry,’ and I looked at all the people I would be working with, all the actors that I’ve respected, admired and looked forward to the experience.” Evans recalled.
His first scene was actually with Sir Ian McKellen himself.
“It’s just a weird thing, isn’t it, when you’ve seen it (the Rings trilogy) and all of a sudden, you’re actually on set and Gandalf is looking at you with the white eyes and Ian is sort of brilliant.” he said excitedly.
The actor says the night before his audition, he spoke with script writer Phillipa Boyens, who wanted him to do his Welsh accent:
“I had a chat with (co-screenwriter and producer) Philippa Boyens on the phone the night before my audition, and she said, ‘We want you to go in and do it in your Welsh accent,'” Evans said.
“And I was like, ‘Really? I’ve never done a Welsh accent ever in anything’. Even though it’s my accent, most people want to stamp it out. And she said, ‘No, we like it. We really like it’.”
As to what will happen for him personally after his much anticipated appearance in The Hobbit as Bard the Bowman, Luke says:
“Most of the time, you do films and they can be big films, but you are rarely aware of the fan base that comes with it. And with this film, you can’t get away from it. We’re desperately waiting to see the film, so I can’t imagine what the fans are like.”
As a Luke Evans admirer, this writer can say the fans are quite desperate as well. Is December 13 here yet?
[Images courtesy of MGM]
